Foods Beginning with B Trivia Quiz

Answer: Baileys Irish Cream

Dairy cream, cocoa and Irish whiskey come together to create Baileys Irish Cream, a product of Ireland. (There is no apostrophe to avoid a trademark problem.) The drink, which contains only 17% alcohol, was invented in 1971 by Tom Jago. The emulsion is stable but only good for about two years.

A frugal approximation can be made at home by very gently combining Irish whiskey, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup, vanilla extract, and a few grains of instant espresso.

Answer: bamboo shoot

Bamboo is a fast-growing grass used as if it were wood. The sprouting culm of a bamboo may be cooked and eaten. Bamboo shoots are most often available tinned; raw ones must be cooked before use. Boiling (or canning) destroys a toxin present in the raw vegetable. Bamboo shoots take well to pickling.

Answer: baron of beef

Although there are some differences between the British use and the American use of the term, a baron of beef is a very large, very heavy cut of the loin of a steer which may or may not contain some sirloin. In English butchery, the rump cut includes some sirloin; the American cut does not. The story that baron of beef was named by King Henry VIII is amusing but apocryphal.

Answer: beetroot

Some people call Beta vulgaris "beet" and others call it "beetroot". They are the same thing. Most beets are very dark purple but a few are white, yellow, or pink. They are eaten raw, cooked or pickled; their leaves ("greens") are edible, as well. The juice of a purple beet stains everything it touches which is what makes it an excellent food colouring.

The Pennsylvania Dutch marinate hard-boiled eggs in pickled beet juice to turn the whites pink. Eating too many red beets may tint the eater's urine a reddish colour which harmless condition is called "beeturia".

The noun beet descended from "bete" in Old English which descended from the Latin "beta" meaning beets.

Answer: birch beer

The flavour of birch beer is of a blend of herbs and spices with the sap of one of several species of birch tree. The sap may be white, brown, red, blue, clear or black. Black birch is the variety most commonly used in the northeastern US and Canada. Birch oil tastes a bit like wintergreen. Alcoholic versions of birch beer are made. Birch beer and vanilla ice cream are combined for a "birch beer float"; birch beer and chocolate ice cream for a "black cow".

Answer: black-eyed pea

Black-eyed peas, which are sometimes called black-eyed beans, are an African legume grown around the world. They are an important element of American soul food, eaten on New Year's Day for good luck and prosperity. "Hoppin' John" is a combination of black-eyed peas, rice and pork.

There are innumerable varieties, many of them heirloom. The Vigna unguiculata is drought resistant, a nitrogen-fixer and grows in poor soil.

Answer: bockwurst

Unlike Bratwurst, which is made primarily of pork, Bockwurst is a sausage made from a mixture of mostly veal with some pork added for its fat content. Seasoning varies from place to place but salt, white pepper, paprika, chives, parsley, and marjoram are common. One German tradition is to serve Bockwurst with bock beer, a strong lager made in the spring.

Another is to simmer Bockwurst in beer. Placing one whole sausage on a bread roll with German mustard looks suspiciously like a hot dog.

Answer: Boysenberry

California berry grower Rudolph Boysen obtained an American dewberry (Rubus aboriginum) and loganberry (Rubus loganobaccus) cross which he crossed with European raspberry (Rubus idaeus)and the European blackberry (Rubus fruticosus). Walter Knott took the large red-berried hybrid, named it Boysenberry, and made it famous at his Knott's Berry Farm in Anaheim. Fresh boysenberries are commonly grown in Oregon and New Zealand.

They make exceptionally good ice cream.

Answer: bream

The bream genera includes fish which are found in both fresh and salt water. The "common bream" (Abramis brama) is not so common at all, living only in European fresh water north of the Alps and Pyrenees, mostly in lakes and slow-moving rivers. Sea bream are salt water fish caught in Italy and Spain.

The name comes from the Middle English "breme" perhaps derived from the Middle High German "brehen" meaning to shine.

Answer: butterscotch

Butterscotch is a sweet confection (or sauce) made by heating brown sugar to caramelize it and then tempering it with butter and cream. Some recipes call for corn syrup, as well. Butterscotch may be further flavoured with salt and/or vanilla extract. In England, Parkinson's of Doncaster made one of the earliest versions of boiled-sweet butterscotch; it was a favourite of Queen Victoria.

There is no satisfactory etymology for butterscotch. This lack has no negative impact on the taste.